Summer break
by MysticFantasy
Summary: Jack is going to spend the summer with Billy and Joe in Boston. How will he handle being back in the same town and house where he lived before being torn away from them?
1. Chapter 1

**Summer break**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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Disclaimer: (_I own no part of either movie or the characters in them._)

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Chapter 1

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"If you don't want me to go, just say so."

"What's the point? We're already in the car."

"I know. I just wanna hear you say it." Jack stated with a smirk.

"Not even in your dreams Cracker Jack." Bobby answered.

"Come on Bobby. I'm gonna be gone for two months. Let me hear you admit something honest before I leave." Jack said.

"Ok. I admit I believe you're a fairy." Bobby grinned.

"A**hole."

Bobby grinned more before returning to his denied pouting state. As much as he would deny it to his little brother but privatly to himself, Jack was right.

Today the youngest was leaving to meet his two blood brother's to spend the summer with them in Boston. Bobby was taking Jack to meet them at a halfway point between the two locations and he was dreading every mile that went by because each one that passed meant that the time to say bye to Jack was getting closer.

This was the first time that the Mercer family would be incomplete since the day before Jack had first come to their home. But at the same time, a sort of similar situation applied to the Darley family.

They haven't been complete since Jack was four. In a way it would still be the same since their father was dead but at the same time they would be together as brother's for the first time with some peace in their lives.

Something they didn't have before.

Before they were constantly on guard for their own safty but now they could be at ease. They could sleep at night peacefully, they could relax in their own home without the threat of danger, and they could finally enjoy being brother's in a happy environment.

It would be the first time they could be together as a real family.

"Just say that you'll miss me." Jack offered.

"Maybe I will maybe I won't."

"You lie."

"Alright." Bobby said through a sigh and a small smile. "I admit. I'm gonna miss you while you're away for the summer."

"Yes. That's probably the first honest answer I ever got out of you." Jack mused.

"You've gotten honest answers out of me before. You just never realized it. Fairy dust must have been blocking your thoughts." Bobby replied.

"I'm gonna miss you but not the fairy jokes." Jack declared.

"You're lying. You're gonna miss them." Bobby declared.

"Whatever." Jack half scolfed. "How much longer?"

"Untwist your panties Jackie." Bobby replied. "Only about half an hour."

Jack nodded and sat back in his seat. He himself wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye to his oldest brother for the two months he would be away but this would be the first time that he would be back with his blood family for the first time in sixteen years.

Living once more with his two older blood brother's in the same house they grew up in. He was really excited but at the same time he was very nervous, even though he felt he didn't have a reason to be.

The only real threat to them was long gone and they could be at ease now. But Jack was worried that he would remember things once he was in the house he'd only lived in for four years. He knew he wasn't the only one thinking it.

Just one look at Bobby and Jack could tell that he was just as worried. Bobby had always believed himself to never show any kind of emotion or thought on his face but Jack was able to pick up things here and there.

Right now he could tell that the older man was worried that he might have some flashbacks of his short time in the Darley house. This caused Jack to wonder about Billy and Joe. Were they thinking the same thing too? Were they just as worried that he might remember the horrible things their father had done to them?

"Wake up fairy."

Jack opened his eyes and quickly realized that he'd fallen into a light sleep which had taken up the remaining time to get to the halfway point in a very small town.

He sat up straight and kept his eyes open for the burger stand they were suppose to find. From what Joe had said it should be easy to find.

Bobby didn't even bother trying to find the location because he didn't want to let his youngest brother to leave just yet. They were already in the town where he was going to leave with his other brother's and he wanted to keep him a little while longer.

Unfortunatly, it wasn't in the plan.

"There!" Jack announced pointing to a small burger stand where a noticable black mustang with flames stood apart from the white mini vans and red focus'.

Bobby lightly sighed as he turned into the small parking lot just as the doors to the mustang opened.

Once the car was parked, Bobby watched as Jack practically jumped out and then hurried over to greet the two men who were his only relation in the entire world.

"Hey Jackie." Billy Darley greeted as he heavily embraced his baby brother.

"Hey Billy." Jack greeted happily into his oldest bioligical brother's shoulder then pulled back.

"Ready to go back to Boston?" Billy asked ruffling Jack's hair.

"Yeah. I can't wait to see what's changed." Jack answered.

"Not very much Jack." Joe answered after a quick hug then turned to the oldest Mercer brother. "Hey Bobby."

"What's up man?" Bobby greeted before popping open the trunk of his car. "Hope your car can handle luggage Billy. The fairy is not a light packer."

"You liar!" Jack snapped.

"Joe isn't either so I know what you mean." Billy said.

"This is gonna be an interesting summer Jackie." Joe said to the youngest.

"No kidding." Jack agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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"Call us as soon as you get there alright?" Bobby requested as he hugged Jack tightly while Joe and Billy placed Jack's bags in the trunk of the mustang.

"I will." Jack vowed hugging the older man with equal strength.

"Alright. Be careful and don't get into trouble." Bobby said slowly breaking the hug.

"Hey, I don't take after you like Jerry and Angel." Jack lightly joked.

"Fairy." Bobby muttered with a grin. "Alright then. I'll see you in the fall Cracker Jack."

"Ok Bobby."

"Take care of him guys." Bobby said as Joe shut the trunk.

"Don't worry Bobby. You don't have anything to worry about." Billy vowed.

"If you can get some muscle on him, that would be greatly appreciated." Bobby declared with a grin as Jack moved toward the mustang.

"You're just jealous cause I'll never get fat." Jack replied.

"Could you at least come back fifty pounds heavier?" Bobby asked.

"I'll try my best." Jack said with a smirk. "I'll miss ya man."

"Miss you too fairy." Bobby said and watched as Jack climbed into the back of the car with Joe and Billy climbing in after.

He got into his own car and waved to the three as they started to pull out and head in the opposite direction.

"Take care Jackie. See you soon." Bobby said softly before pulling out onto the road.

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"Wake up Jackie. We're home."

At the sound of Joe's voice, Jack lightly stirred and opened his eyes as the car was pulled into a driveway and came to a stop in a dark garage. Joe climbed out of the car and pulled the seat forward to allow him to crawl out.

After a quick stretch, the youngest walked out of the garage and looked up at the house where he'd lived the first four years of his life. It hadn't changed very much.

A new coat of paint had been applied not too long ago, the small yard had obviously been mowed maybe only a day or two ago, anything he had remembered that was broken was now fixed and the garage now only had Billy's mustang inside.

"Blast from the past Jackie?" Joe asked putting an arm around Jack's shoulders.

"You have no idea." Jack answered with a small smirk. "It all looks the same but I can tell that you guys fixed things up a bit."

"Hey, we didn't want you to come back with this place looking the same as you last saw it." Billy declared opening the trunk. "Besides, it was about time we fixed it up. Going straight means that we gotta change our appearance a little."

"Well it looks awesome either way." Jack stated grabbing his guitar case and slinging his duffle bag over one shoulder and his brother's each taking a bag. "A _lot_ better than the last time I was here."

"Good. Hope you can say the same about your room." Billy said with a small smile.

"The same one?" Jack asked with a bit of hope in his voice.

"Same one." Joe answered. "Let's get inside. It's late and you still need to call Bobby and let him know that you got here in one piece."

"S**t, I'm surprised he didn't follow us here to make sure of that." Jack declared as Billy led the way to the front door.

"Actually, I am too." Billy said placing the key into the lock and opening the door.

Jack followed the two inside and once he stepped through the door he felt a strong presence hit him dead on.

Almost everything was exactly the same. The furniture was different but was in the same place as the last set. The wallpaper was different, it was a lot cleaner but it seemed almost the exact same to Jack.

Part of him was expecting to see their father come around the corner but he had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't around anymore. That threat was gone and they could finally be in the house together in peace.

"Come on Jackie. Let's see what you think of your room." Billy said leading the way to the stairs.

Jack nodded and followed with Joe right behind him. Coming to the second floor Jack instantly remembered the rooms. He remembered his father's room, the room that Billy and Joe shared and then there was his that was at the end of the hall.

Even though Billy and Joe shared a room and he had his own, they had all stayed in his at night. They had felt safer being together and they always looked out for one another. Billy would usually be the one who stayed up the longest to make sure that their father was asleep and so that they could sleep themselves. It would cause him to sleep in almost until noon the next day but at the same time their father would just barely be waking up at that time so they were still safe until then.

As they walked down the hall, Jack right away noticed that it looked like Billy had taken their dad's room and made it his own and the room he had shared with Joe looked to now belong to Joe.

They came to the last door and Billy stepped aside for Jack to open the door.

The youngest stepped foward and opened the door.

Jack walked into the room and right away felt a familiar feeling wash over him. This room...This room had been his. Before he had been torn apart from his two blood brother's and put in foster care.

He remembered the small bed, the small collection of coloring books, the few pieces of clothing put away in the dresser, the few toys placed in the toy chest...

All those things were gone and new things replaced them. The room was basic but Jack noticed that his brother's tried to fix it to his punk rock style. Black and grey were the basic color patterns. A twin bed was set in the middle of the room with a dresser against the opposite wall and a tv on a small side table in the corner facing the bed.

"We're not decoraters but we thought this would be alright." Billy said.

"It's perfect Billy." Jack declared.

"Good. I'm glad you like it." the older brother said with a smile. "Why don't you go ahead and unpack, call your mom and I'll call for some pizza's."

"Alright." Jack agreed.

Billy and Joe left the room, closing the door behind them to give Jack some privacy.

The younger man smiled greatly as he looked at his room once more. It was the very same one where he'd slept in as a child and now he returned to as an adult.

Flopping onto the soft mattress, Jack lightly sighed as he felt the comforting thought of finally being safe cross his mind.

He was back in his home with his brother's. He felt like a Darley again.

After a few minutes, Jack pushed himself up and grabbed his phone from his pocket. He dialed Bobby's phone number, pressed call and held the phone in place with his shoulder as he began to unpack. After the first ring the other line answered.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey Bobby." Jack greeted. "Just calling to let you know that we got here a few minutes ago."

_"About time! Me and Ma were going nuts waiting for you to call. We've been sitting and waiting since I got back."_ Bobby declared.

"It's only been five hours." Jack stated with a grin.

_"Hey, you forget that you _are_ the youngest. Ma's gonna be thinking about you constantly cause you're her baby and I'm gonna be wondering if you're hooking up with any fruitcakes."_

"A**hole."

Bobby chuckled on the other end and Jack couldn't help but smile a little.

_"So how is everything? Do you remember any of it?"_

"A lot actually." Jack answered. "I mean, it's kinda like how mom keeps everything the same whenever one of us would be gone for a while. Billy and Joe changed a few things of course but everything is almost exactly like I remember."

_"Nothing bad though right?"_

"No. Nothing bad. Thank goodness." Jack answered. "Billy and Joe really made this place a home for us."

_"Sounds like it."_

"They did." Jack continued as he finished putting away the last of his clothes. "I don't remember anything bad for some reason. I feel...at peace."

_"Fairy."_

"F***er."

_"Alright Jack. I'll let you get back to enjoying your summer. Just promise that you'll call at least nine times a week so we don't have all these weird scenarios in our heads. Alright?"_

"Alright Bobby." Jack agreed.

_"Good. Call us the next chance you get. Alright baby brother?"_

"Ok Bobby."

_"Alright. Talk to you later."_

"Later Bobby."

Jack closed his cell phone and laid back on the bed. It had only been a few hours since he'd last seen the oldest Mercer brother but Jack was already starting to miss him greatly. But he just had to remember that he would see him again in a few weeks.

A creak in the floor caught his attention and he sat up just as Billy walked into the room.

"They alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. I think Bobby was about to call the swat team to come check on us." Jack replied.

Billy lightly chuckled as he sat next to Jack.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did Jackie." he said. "So, tomorrow is the first day that you'll be back home. Want to do anything?"

"Not right away." Jack answered. "I mean, the drive is obviously gonna make me sleep in."

"Same here." Billy agreed with a nod. "Then how about the day after we take you sight seeing? Show you what's changed, the shop and whatever else you want. We can spend all day tomorrow being lazy a**es then we'll do whatever you come up with. How's that sound?"

"Sounds perfect." Jack answered.

"Great. Pizza's gonna be here in a few minutes."

"Good. I'm starving." Jack declared.

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"Alright. Go ahead and get some sleep Jackie." Billy said and gave the youngest a quick hug.

Jack hugged his brother happily before he left.

After changing into comfortable clothes, Jack turned the light off and laid down in his new bed. As he laid there, he couldn't help but feel like he was four again. The only differences was that he was older and his dad wasn't around to sneak in on him to beat him.

Also, Billy and Joe weren't in the room. They'd spent almost every night together when he'd still been with them. Being back in his old room without them there felt odd.

Despite that the two older men had done what they could to keep things similar, almost everything had changed. Things had changed almost as much as each of them.

About twenty minutes had gone by and Jack was still wide awake when someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." he called sitting up.

The door opened and his saw his brother's walk in.

"Can't sleep either kid?" Billy asked.

"Not really." Jack answered. "I guess I'm still a little overwhelmed with how much things have changed. I kinda still feel like dad is about to show up out of nowhere."

"We feel like that every day Jackie." Joe said. "But at the same time we couldn't help but feel like things were almost like before. Only we're older of course. We thought you might feel the same."

"I do." Jack said.

"Hey. How about we bunk together again? For old times sake." Billy suggested.

"Yeah." the two younger men answered.

Within seven minutes, the three had brought an airmattress into the room, filled it with air and gathered pillows and blankets.

They laid together on the mattress with Jack in the middle and they all felt like they were kids again.

They were brother's once again.


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